The government of Indonesian Pres. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono entered its second full year in office and further consolidated its position during 2006. A well-regarded poll released in October showed the government’s approval rating at 67%, a significant improvement over the beginning of the year. The continuing high standing of President Yudhoyono was a major element of the government’s popularity. He remained by far the most popular politician in Indonesia, thanks to his astute management of political and economic issues. Though criticized by some as too cautious and irresolute, Yudhoyono avoided alienating key interest groups while still conveying a sense of policy competence and governmental reform. He appeared intent on seeking reelection in 2009.

Several government policies won widespread approval during the year. The first was the continuing peace and progress toward local elections in the previously strife-torn Sumatran province of Aceh. Separatist conflict in Aceh over the past three decades had cost thousands of lives and immense economic disruption, but a peace deal negotiated between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government in 2005 brought an end to hostilities. In 2006 the government steered through the parliament a complex new law that enabled elections and governance reforms in the province and, among other things, allowed for the integration of GAM members into the local political system. Despite protests from nationalists and some GAM leaders, the legislation was accepted by most groups and appeared likely to provide a workable framework for longer-term peace. Local elections were held in December.

Successes in the anticorruption drive were another positive outcome for the government. During the year more than 300 national and regional political leaders and officials were tried and found guilty of corruption. Most prominent among these were the religious affairs minister in the previous government, who was jailed for five years, and four members of the national election commission. About 1,000 regional legislators were under investigation for graft, as were many hundreds of officials in government enterprises. Though the anticorruption campaign won widespread praise, corruption remained pervasive in Indonesia, and the vast majority of graft and collusion cases went unpunished, though the increased risk of detection was undoubtedly making would-be corruptors more careful. Some observers also argued that many of those prosecuted for corruption had been guilty of procedural abuses rather than gross self-enrichment and that little was being done to tackle systemic high-level graft.

The government’s economic policy was also reasonably successful. After the sharp rise in oil prices in early 2006, the government reduced its growth estimate to 4.5%, but by midyear quarterly expansion had risen to 5.22%, making Indonesia one of the better-performing economies in Southeast Asia. There was also a modest rise in foreign investment, though this remained well below government targets. The necessity for growth exceeding 6% was apparent in figures showing that Indonesia had 11.6 million unemployed, a substantial increase over the previous two years.

During the year Indonesia took further steps toward consolidating its democracy by holding the first nationwide direct elections for governors and district heads. Since mid-2005 some 265 local elections had been held, in almost 60% of the districts. Despite dire forecasts of violence, most elections were peaceful. Moreover, although attempted vote buying was commonplace, electors in many districts voted out corrupt incumbents and also rejected candidates with sectarian agendas, military backgrounds, or poor campaigning styles. Voter turnout, while lower on average than for the 2004 national elections, was still consistently above 65%. Elections in the remaining 40% of districts were to be held by early 2007.

Another issue that dominated Indonesian public life during the year was that of the role of Islamic law. Although 88% of citizens were Muslim, according to the most recent census, Indonesia was a religiously neutral state in which Shariʿah (Islamic law) was largely confined to family law. In recent years, however, there had been a growing trend in some strongly Islamic regions to introduce more comprehensive Shariʿah-inspired regulations, such as dress codes, bans on alcohol and gambling, and mandatory Islamic knowledge requirements for officials. At least 22 districts had such regulations, even though control of religious affairs rested with the central government. Many women’s groups and non-Muslims objected to these regulations on the grounds of discrimination and the undermining of human rights.

A woman in the predominantly Muslim city of Banda Aceh, Indon., undergoing a caning for having …

AP

The Shariʿah issue became even more controversial when Islamic parties introduced in the parliament an antipornography bill that, in addition to outlawing sexually explicit materials, also sought to proscribe a wide range of social and personal activities, including kissing in public, homosexuality, and cultural performances in which artists were not fully clothed. The bill drew a storm of protest from cultural groups, regions with traditions of seminaked performance (Bali and Papua were such areas), and secular nationalists and liberal Muslims who claimed that Islamists were instituting Shariʿah by stealth. Islamic parties responded that the bill was primarily concerned with public morality rather than religion, but they nonetheless agreed to withdraw the legislation. The revised bill had most of the contentious clauses removed, and secularists claimed this as a defeat for Islamism and a reassertion of Indonesia’s religiously neutral traditions.

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